Hit-and-run bill gains traction

Tearful testimony from parents whose children were killed in hit-and-run accidents encouraged the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday to pledge support for a bill that would strengthen punishments for motorists who flee the scene of a fatal accident.

Courtney Griffin, 30, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2011; senators anticipate passing a bill to strengthen penalties for drivers who flee the scene of a fatal crash with ease. Photo: Austin American-Statesman

SB 275, sponsored by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, stems in part from a 2011 incident in which a legislative aide fled the scene after fatally striking 30-year-old Courtney Griffin. Last month, a Travis County jury found Gabrielle Nestande, 25, guilty of criminally negligent homicide in Griffin’s death; she faces 10 years of probation and a $10,000 fine. Meanwhile, Griffin’s mother, Laurie, has sued Nestande and a Rainey Street bar that served her the night of the crash, and is seeking $1 million in damages.

As proposed, the bill would enhance the punishment for a hit-and-run crash that resulted in a death from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony, which is punishable by a prison term of 2 to 20 years and a fine up to $10,000.

“It was clear that Courtney was a victim of an auto-pedestrian accident,” said her father, Bart Griffin. “But no one came to her aid until the resident of the house found her that morning. We were shocked and we were appalled by the least charge you could get in this case – a third-degree felony – it did not fit the crime.”

Despite the heightened attention to hit-and-run crashes after Griffin’s death, Watson said, “This is not a local issue.” Last year, there were a dozen people killed in crashes in which the driver fled the scene in Austin and in Dallas County, and 36 in Harris County, Watson said. According to the San Antonio Police Department, 24 people were killed in hit-and-run crashes last year, up from 5 in 2011.

Carol Thompson said she was equally shocked by the apparent loophole in the law. In 2005, her daughter, Sarah, was fatally struck by a motorist who fled the scene in San Antonio. A photo of her daughter, who was a 24-year-old third-year law student at St. Mary’s School of Law when she was killed, sat framed on a table next to her as Thompson testified.

“A higher penalty will keep convicted drivers off of our roads for a longer period of time,” she said, “and it also sends the message that leaving people to die on the streets and highways of Texas will not be tolerated or overlooked.”

Juan Carlos Vara was arrested and convicted of failure to stop in render aid in connection with Thompson’s death; he was sentenced to five years in prison.

In part because of participation from parents like the Griffins and Thompson, the bill is “in real good shape,” and will likely pass the full Senate, said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who chairs the committee.

“Courtney’s death was so unfortunate, but it will benefit the rest of the state in terms of changing the laws,” Whitmire said after Bart Griffin testified, “and I hope you understand the sorrow that we have in this mission of closing the loophole.”